Roxie Ray-Bordelon
Camarillo
Splash and Treading Water
Studio Channel islands Art Center
One University Drive, Camarillo (at Lewis Road, site of the former Camarillo Hospital)
Ventura County Thomas Guide page 524, grid F7

Roxie Ray-Bordelon's acrylics "Splash" (2001) and "Treading Water" (2000) are part of a 17-piece series portraying the human figure in water currently on display at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center.

"I am interested in water because it is multi-layer and when you throw in the human element it becomes even more complex," Ray-Bordelon says of the paintings. "There is the surface, which shows the reflections, the mid-level, which has distorted refractions and the bottom that shows shadow and light. I am trying to portray the degrees of consciousness and responses to one's own environment, which reflect our own frailties and strengths.

"We have those moments of clarity in life, and it can be a celebration and it can also be painful," she said. "Everyone treads water from time to time.

"It is the beginning of life, it nurtures and holds and it's also torrential."